Déjà vu
I will admit to feeling quite cross.Whilst there is a lot to be positive about (a return to good schools, a challenging new role for the Pioneering Accountant, friends and family, Radio 4, Tesco...
View ArticleBloggers of the world unite
Grit has been in Hong Kong with her Gritlets Three. This afternoon they came over to swim and play and have tea. We talked about life in Hong Kong, home education, moving back and blogging and it felt...
View ArticleTwenty Questions, almost
I’ve been tagged by Nappy Valley Girl to answer some questions. It’s a list and now that my life is once more defined by “To Do” lists this is one I’m going to rattle off. Besides it’s a welcome...
View ArticleUnderdressed, Overdressed
The Class Mother at our eldest son’s New School is kind enough to invite me to coffee to meet some of the other mothers. It’s at the Hong Kong Country Club and I grow slightly anxious about what to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nothing to Fear?
How shallow of me to be whingeing on about what not to wear while the world holds its breath, stifles a sneeze and waits to see if it has Swine Flu.Are we affected? Oh yes. At the epicentre of the SARS...
View ArticleSomewhere to live
I confess the heart has gone out of Wife in Hong Kong. As I surveyed the children’s rooms this morning with a view to a pre-move clear out I asked myself, What’s the point?A year ago, as I packed boxes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is was THAT big!
Great ripples of excitement were felt yesterday afternoon.Next door’s helper was in the yard when she realised that the rope-like thing coiled around the railings at the back of the house was actually...
View ArticleMiracle Cure
I’ve been so worried of late. So much to do, so little time. Nowhere to live, nowhere to hide.No matter, I’ve found the solution. Botox. A glass and a half full of botox injected into my brow and no...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hurtling towards the finishing line
As time gathers pace, we race headlong towards our departure date and our days are packed. There are last visits to old haunts and first visits to new ones.Whilst I should have much to write about I’ve...
View ArticleA space at the table
My big boys have been away on school trips.Last week the eight year old went on camp to one of the outlying islands in Sai Kung National Park. They went abseiling, cooked their own food and built...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Quality of Life
Some months ago, frustrated by our youngest son’s inability to stop coughing and concerned that Hong Kong’s poor air quality might be responsible, I took him to a doctor. It was a visit that merited a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Mother does not know best
The prolonged spell of clear, sunny weather that has seen us lounging on beaches, eating outside and in the pool every afternoon came to an abrupt end this week with amber rain and thunderstorm...
View ArticleDriving myself, crazy
The other day, in one of my blind panics that involves propelling the Flying Sofa around Hong Kong, and never quite managing to go the way I intended, I realised too late that I was in an Autotoll lane...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Photo Diary
I shouldn't be here. It is 10.30pm on Sunday night and I am already short of sleep before the new week has even started.The Pioneering Accountant has just left for a week in London where, I am hoping,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shenzhen
Shenzhen was one more place I was keen to see before we leave. To understand why you must try and appreciate what Shenzhen is to Hong Kong: Shenzhen is fake paradise, the land of cheap copies, cut...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wednesday Morning Hikes
I’m going to miss my weekly hike. Starting at 7.15 each Wednesday morning we have hiked through all weathers. I joined the group in January and it was cold enough to wear several layers plus a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
VI IV – Remembering Tiananmen
Twenty years ago today troops and tanks entered Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to crush the pro-democracy demonstrations that had occupied the Square for 7 weeks. In the violence of the crackdown hundreds,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Updates
We leave in three weeks time. Gulp. And I have done NOTHING to prepare except sell six dehumidfiers. Actually I am quite pleased even with that. Not a single box is packed, not a cupboard sorted. I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Candlelit Vigil
I did go to the Tiananmen Square vigil. It didn’t rain and Victoria Park was packed with people holding candles, their flames cupped in paper cones. The crowd was quiet and attentive. At a given signal...
View ArticleRollercoaster Ride
The Pioneering Accountant returned from London on Saturday afternoon. Just a few hours later an email arrived with the news we’d been hoping for: our London tenants had seen another house they liked...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Much to celebrate
And so it came to pass that a local girl fell ill with the H1N1 virus AKA swine flu, passed it to her brother who took it to school where eleven of his primary school class mates fell ill resulting in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trouble in Xi'an
It seemed fitting to draw our China adventure to a close, as it began: with a visit to the Terracotta Warriors. A year ago we scraped in at the last minute to see the exhibition at the British Museum...
View ArticleThe Last Week
Learning@home does not go well. We try half-heartedly for a day or so, at least while it is too wet to go out. For speed I do one or two of the assignments myself. It is easier than keeping two boys to...
View ArticleThe Last Day
On our last morning in Hong Kong we awake to grey skies and an email. My brother has been trying to reach me but we are no longer at home and my mobile contract has been terminated. Our mother has been...
View ArticleThe Last Post
She never did wake up. I flew back from Bali two days later. A scan revealed she’d suffered a devastating stroke during the operation and would never recover. I might be at her bedside but she would...
View Article
